Games to Play at a Social Event

Gathering people together for social events can be a daunting task. In addition to planning the food, drinks and music, there is the matter of entertaining your guests. Playing games at birthday parties, bridal showers and graduation celebrations is an exciting way to let guests get acquainted, unwind and have a good time. The types of games you choose to play will depend on both the guests and the purpose or theme of the event.

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Board Games

There is a wide array of board games available for all tastes and personalities. Board games promote togetherness and teamwork, and make for convenient and enjoyable icebreakers at social events. Board games can be found for specific movies and television shows, can be specially-themed for sports or music fans or aimed at a certain age group. Different types of board games include strategy, trivia, puzzle, and roll and move games.

Murder Mystery

For more of a role-playing type of game, party hosts can put together a murder mystery. Before beginning the game, create a list of characters. Each guest will be assigned a role to play when they arrive. Decide which character will be the murderer and devise a list of clues that will help the guests figure out who is playing the killer. Once the guests have arrived and have received their character assignments, let them mingle for a while to get to know the other characters. Clues should be delivered to guests throughout the course of the game. Some clues are meant to be revealed, while others should remain concealed. "Reveal" clues should be casually brought up in conversation to different guests at different times. Since every guest will hear a variety of different hints, each will reach her own conclusion about the case. "Conceal" clues should be guarded. Guests should try to keep these secret so they are not incriminated. Other guests will inevitably discover the secrets and tell the others. When the game is over, have each guest reveal who they think is the killer and why. Once all partygoers have guessed, unveil the truth behind the murder mystery.

Charades

Charades is a classic party game in which guests silently act out a scenario, object, film title, place, phrase, famous person or action. In charades, party guests divide into two teams and assign an official, neutral timekeeper and scorekeeper. The teams take turns nominating one of their players to act out the clues while the rest of the team attempts to guess the answer within a predetermined time frame. The team with the most solves after a certain number of rounds wins. Clues should be written down on slips of paper before the game begins.

Win, Lose or Draw

Before playing Win, Lose or Draw, the party host or guests should write down a certain number of items on separate pieces of paper and fold the papers so that no one can see the words. Once players have divided into teams, each team should nominate an individual to be the drawer. The drawer will choose a slip of paper and within a certain time limit, attempt to draw the item on the paper. The drawer's teammates must guess what the drawing depicts. The drawer cannot speak or use hand signals to provide her team with hints. The team with the most solves after a certain number of rounds wins.